


it’s about time (don’t you think)

by poesword



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mortal, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexual Percy Jackson, Bisexual Piper McLean, Character Study, Comfort, Coming Out, Drinking, F/M, Gen, Growing Up, Internalized Biphobia, Original Male Character(s) - Freeform, Rated T for swearing, author is a canadian teenager writing about adults in new york and it Shows ://, but is it rly? that’s the question, but they’re all the american drinking age and older so it’s fine, but they’re only mentioned - Freeform, theyre all adults, this literally takes place in 2020 but it’s the better timeline truly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25891690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poesword/pseuds/poesword
Summary: “No, no, like. You’re out of university, you’ve got a steady job, a nice apartment, you’re married with a kid on the way. Percy, you’re almost 30! You have your whole life together!”Something inside Percy twinges. A thing in the back of his mind, perking up. He pushes it down and holds back a sigh.“Trust me, Nico,” Percy tries to laugh, “I’m still figuring things out.”
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo & Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson & Grover Underwood, Percy Jackson & Piper McLean
Comments: 21
Kudos: 94





	it’s about time (don’t you think)

**Author's Note:**

> happy 27th birthday, percy!!!! i’ve had this idea for an entire year but this past week i sat down and forced myself to finally write it. what ur abt to read is the product of So Much projection and manifestation, and i rlllly hope u enjoy! this is the most i’ve ever written since i was 10 yrs old, so. i’m kinda rly proud ❤️
> 
> title is from “falsettoland/about time” from the musical falsettos.

Percy reads the time on his phone and lets his head hit the wall behind him with a sigh. He’s going to be late.

He scowls at the thing that’s delayed him (a jumbo jar of pickles, Annabeth’s current craving) before typing out an apology to his wife. She responds not a minute later, with a video of the kitchen in Sally and Paul’s house. In the video, Nico is lecturing about the superiority of freshly made pasta to Paul, who is turning red and shaking with the effort not to laugh. Sally, behind Nico, leans over the cutting board in silent laughter, half-sliced tomatoes sitting forgotten. Annabeth sends a text immediately after the video, which reads: “take your time, perce.”

Percy huffs out a chuckle. If he had known Jackson-Blofis Family Dinners would become this exciting, he’d have invited Nico to join them a long time ago. When they first started, Percy and Annabeth were away at university, visiting a couple of times a month when they could spare it. Sally and Paul went all out each time. They would splurge on ingredients, keep the cooking channel on for days in advance at nearly full volume so they wouldn’t miss a thing. Percy would feel all kinds of guilty for making them fuss, but Sally would set her hands on her hips and bar the entrance to the kitchen whenever he would try to offer assistance. 

“We haven’t been able to spoil you two for weeks,” Sally would start.

“Just,” Paul would interject, spatula in hand and tea towel draped over his shoulder, “help Estelle wash up before we eat. Set the table. Don’t worry about the food.”

On some occasions, Percy was forced to skip a dinner to catch up on his workload. On those evenings, Sally, Paul, and Annabeth, if she went without him, would video call him as they sat down to eat. They wouldn’t force him to talk or pay attention to their conversations. They knew he liked the background noise to help him focus on his work.

Those days of cramming and spitting out essays the day they were due were behind him, though. After they graduated, he and Annabeth found an apartment closer to where his parents lived. When they were able to make the dinners a weekly occurrence, Percy learned that his parents had been inviting other former summer campers for dinner while he was in his fourth year of undergrad.

The third week in a row that Percy and Annabeth had come for dinner, they entered the house with their spare key and heard familiar voices overlapping in the next room.

“Please, Sally, just let me into the kitchen. I know what I’m doing!” Frank’s voice. ”You’re right, that _is_ a very cool sticker, Estelle.” Thalia’s voice. “You know, Paul, there’s actually this really good vegan recipe—“ Grover. “Leo, get down from there!” Piper. “Hey, can I change the channel?” from Hazel, which was quickly followed by a ringing chorus of, “No!”

Percy and Annabeth had just shared a look, kicked off their shoes, and peered into the room down the hall. After being smothered by hugs and heys, Paul instructed the others to help bring the food to the table, snapping everyone into a routine that Percy and Annabeth obviously weren’t accustomed to.

As the months went on, the dinner crowd dwindled as most returned to school, leaving the youngest of the bunch, Hazel, to stay behind and take over one of the guest rooms as her own while she went to a nearby high school. Percy would ask about Nico every once in a while, to which Hazel would unsubtly change the subject. It wasn’t until early October that year that Percy learned why.

He and Annabeth had gone over to Sally and Paul’s earlier in the day to babysit Estelle. At around four o’clock, Hazel came home, calling out Sally’s name frantically.

Percy sped into the foyer, Estelle on his back. Hazel looked troubled, pacing around and fidgeting with her dress. 

“What’s wrong, Hazel? Did something happen?”

Hazel jumped when he spoke, and she sent him a sheepish smile.

“No, nothing’s _wrong_ , I guess. Um. Nico’s coming tonight. He just texted.”

Percy grinned. “Great, I haven’t seen him in a while. Does mom know?”

Hazel shook her head.

“Alright, I’ll text her, then. Can you take Estelle? Annabeth’s upstairs doing some work, but she should take a break soon if you want to go say hi.”

Percy handed off Estelle, stretching out his shoulders with a groan. Hazel bit her lip, looking pensive. Percy studied her.

“Is...everything alright?”

Hazel took a deep breath, hesitated, then deliberately avoided Percy’s eyes.

“Okay, I didn’t want to say it because he’s really touchy about it, but Nico’s kinda weird about parents because of his mom, and he misses her a lot sometimes, and he’s been a little nervous about coming over for dinner because he thinks he’ll just make it awkward and he doesn’t want to impose even though I _told_ him it would be fine and we all want him here, especially Sally because she knows he’s going to university nearby and needs a place to stay that isn’t super expensive and also because he’s pretty bad at taking care of himself and I know all of you joke about eating only ramen noodles during the semester but he seriously doesn’t have any other food in his kitchen and he’s gonna be here in half an hour and I’m trying to convince him to stay here a couple of days just to see how it goes and he’s being nice about it but I don’t think he believed me when I said Sally and Paul love him so yeah.”

Hazel seemed to say all of this in one breath, to Percy’s amazement. It took a few moments, but what she said sunk in and the gears in his brain started turning.

“So,” Percy began, slowly. “You need help convincing him to stay.”

Hazel nodded quickly.

“Easy peasy, don’t you worry, Hazel.”

She still looked unconvinced, so Percy pulled her (and Estelle) into a hug.

“You’re a good sister,” he mumbled.

She tightened her hug in reply.

What followed that evening was an admittedly awkward dinner that thankfully grew more comfortable as the night went on. By nine, they had pulled a few laughs out of Nico and had him loosened up enough to start joking around. As Annabeth and Percy helped clear the dishes and gathered their things, Percy had pulled Nico aside for a moment to tell him, “If you ever need a place to stay, mom’s practically ready with the adoption papers, and Annabeth and I don’t live too far. We’ve missed you around! Come to dinner more often!”

And that was that. A few weeks passed, Nico’s lease had miraculously been resolved, and the Jackson-Blofis household gained a new member.

In the current day, the bus finally arrives, and Percy squeezes into the streetcar, careful of the jar not crashing into anything. He texts back and forth with Annabeth, who live-texts the whole pasta debate, and before he knows it, the bus is stopping a few blocks down from his parents’ house.

Fifteen minutes later, he pulls out his spare key and enters the house, shouting a greeting over his shoulder.

In the kitchen, the argument has died down, and when they see Percy walk in, Nico and Paul immediately start bringing the food to the table. 

Percy takes his spot beside Annabeth, handing her the jar of pickles with a peck on her lips.

“Sorry, I’m late. You’re still craving pickles right? Haven’t decided you utterly despise them?”

Annabeth immediately unscrews the jar (with no effort, thank you very much) and sends Percy a dry look.

“Oh haha, very funny, Seaweed Brain. Poke fun at your pregnant wife who just wants to eat some freaking pickles without being judged.”

Percy throws his head back and shakes with laughter, which brings a pleased smile to Annabeth’s lips.

From behind him, Sally kisses the top of his head and gives him a quick hug.

“Hi, mom.”

“Hi, sweetie.”

She takes her seat at the head of the table, pushing in Estelle’s chair for her. Paul leans out into the hallway and calls out, “Dinner’s ready!” Prompting Hazel to rush into the dining room not a minute later, her black overalls sporting bright paint splotches. She waves at Percy before pulling her hair into a puff atop her head and wiping off any wet paint on her hands onto a napkin.

“So,” Percy asks when they’ve all settled. “What’s new?”

—

They’re halfway through dessert when Nico begins ranting about his classmates (not for the first time).

“They never show up to lectures! It’s just me and like, seven others that actually attend.”

Hazel scoffs. “You mean the lectures that start at 8 am and end four hours later? _No_ , I can’t _possibly_ understand why they would skip.”

While the others stifle their laughs, Nico steals a strawberry from Hazel’s plate in retaliation.

Sally intervenes. “Well, if they aren’t showing up, they’re probably failing the course—“

“But that’s the thing!” Nico stabs at his dessert. “Class average is high 80s! How the hell are we getting high 80s if most of the class won’t know what’s even on the final?”

Percy swallows his food before answering. 

“Oh, they’re definitely cheating. There’s some private Facebook page or something where someone’s posting all the answers and like, selling copies of the exam. It’s probably run by one of the eight that actually attend the lectures, so next time you should bring them all a coffee and get on their good side, just in case.”

Annabeth snickers into her hand while Nico and Hazel mentally file the advice away. Paul looks impressed but Sally sticks Percy with a daring look.

“That _better_ not have been what you did, Percy.”

He cracks a grin. “Of course not, mom! You’ve seen me do all of my essays from scratch, I’d never do that.”

Once Sally looks away to listen to Estelle talk about school, Percy turns back to Hazel and Nico and mouths, “Totally cheated.” 

Annabeth kicks him under the table with a mock-disapproving look while the other two cover up their laughter with coughs.

“Alright,” Paul says, rising from the table. “Who’s gonna help me with the dishes?”

Percy and Nico volunteer, leaving the others to their idle chatter. In the kitchen, Paul packs up the leftovers while Percy and Nico rinse and dry. They chat about school, work, Estelle’s antics—anything to fill the silence. They were on their last few dishes, with Paul putting Estelle to bed, when Nico asks when the baby’s due.

“Sometime late-August. The 27th, I think.”

“That’s so close. Like, four months. Thought of any names?”

Percy snorts. “Too many. But we’ll get there by the time they're born.”

Nico pauses drying the plate to watch him for a moment. Percy glances up and saw Nico shaking his head in disbelief.

“What?”

“I don’t know how you do it! You’re so...grown up! It feels like just yesterday you were the older camper assigned to keep me out of trouble and I kept running off and disappearing on you.”

Percy laughs. “Trust me, I’m still that awkward fourteen-year-old, there’s no growing out of that.”

“No, no, like. You’re out of university, you’ve got a steady job, a nice apartment, you’re _married_ with _a kid_ on the way. Percy, you’re almost 30! You have your whole life together!”

Something inside Percy twinges. A thing in the back of his mind, perking up. He pushes it down and holds back a sigh.

“Trust me, Nico,” Percy tries to laugh, “I’m still figuring things out.”

He runs the last dish under the water and hands it to Nico, thinking desperately for some change in topic.

“Also, aren’t you 23? You’re a whole ass adult, Nico.”

Nico scoffs, thankfully unaware of the change in conversation. “No, I fucking am not. Maybe now I can drink legally, but did the law ever stop me or anyone else before? Hell no. I’m still a kid.”

“Can’t fight that logic.”

—

At nine o’clock, Percy and Annabeth call it a night. Paul offers to drive them home, much to their delight, and quickly they are back in their apartment, unwinding for the night.

Annabeth is out cold as soon as her head hits the pillow. Percy kisses her forehead and makes sure the comforter is snug over her before quietly stepping out of their bedroom to the balcony.

The sliding door closes behind him with a hushed _click!_ and he settles into the chair that has been placed out there since they first moved in. With the sounds of the city echoing from down the block and the night sky lit up with artificial stars, Percy slowly unravels the Thing in the back of his mind.

It has been there for as long as he could remember. A feeling so intense that it scares him to keep at the forefront of his thoughts, so he buried it deep and only took it out when he could sense it stirring.

The first time he could clearly remember it dancing around in his thoughts, he was seven years old and his new best friend was a boy named Daniel. It was barely more than a few moments, this thought. They were on the playground, playing tag with some other kids. They were racing down the field, laughing and overflowing with energy, and then Daniel grabbed Percy’s hand and pulled him behind a tree to hide. He hadn’t taken his hand away, even though there wasn’t any need anymore, but Percy found himself hesitant to break the hold. And then he thought It.

_I really like holding Daniel’s hand_.

As soon as the words echoed in his brain, he felt something rumble in his chest. It felt...wrong. Not ‘wrong’ like it was _bad_ , but ‘wrong’ like it maybe wasn’t _good._ And it scared him. So he let go of Daniel’s hand. The thought went away.

Knowing more now than he did then, Percy knows there’s a word for that. Many words, in fact, but only one that would accurately apply to him. But even now, almost 27 and his life mostly put together, despite what he’d argue to Nico, Percy doesn’t want to speak it. Because for others, it is good. Percy admires them and believes in them and loves them and fights for them, but when it comes to _himself_ , it feels wrong. Not ‘wrong’ like it was bad. ‘Wrong’ like it, maybe, wasn’t good.

An hour or two passes, and Percy packs up the Thought into a neat, inconspicuous bundle, and hides it in some forgettable corner of his brain. He whispers a ‘goodnight’ to the still wide-awake city, then returns to bed, letting the gentle snoring of the love of his life lull him to sleep.

—

But something goes wrong in the universe. When Percy wakes up the next day, the Thought is still there. The corner is decidedly _not_ forgettable. And Percy begins his day in reluctant introspection, zoning out during breakfast and not realizing his cereal is overflowing until the milk splashes onto his shirt. He sips his coffee before it cools down and it burns his tongue. He puts his shoes on the wrong foot, forgets his keys in the apartment and has to jog back down the block to get them. Annabeth gave him a confused look each time, but she didn’t press. Just kissed him goodbye and smiled when he blew a kiss to her stomach.

Once at work, Percy busies himself with restocking the bookshelves in the back. His coworkers could tell the moment he walked in that it would be best not to bother him by keeping him at cash, so they try their best to steer customers away from him. An hour goes by in precarious peace. Percy carries towers of books to each genre section and lets his thoughts fade away while he focuses on the routine of shelving books. The music playing overhead was some lofi, which isn’t Percy’s personal choice of background noise, but it does its job in occupying his excessive energy. 

With ten minutes to his lunch break, Percy decides to reshelve one last collection before slipping into the break room. As he approaches the genre section, he almost stops, the Thought keeping him hyper-aware of absolutely everything around him. He shuts his eyes, inwardly telling himself to _chill the fuck out,_ and with a heavy exhale, starts shelving.

He isn’t alone in the aisle. One of his coworkers, a woman named Iris who’d been working at the bookstore since forever, is leaning against the shelves, nose buried in one of the brightly coloured books that were stacked all over. It reads: “Not So Straightforward,” with the ’forward’ part crossed out. Iris glances up over the pages and sends Percy a warm smile.

“And how are you doing, Percy?” Iris always skips the greeting and jumps right in. “The others mentioned you’re a bit...spacey, today.”

Percy sighs. The majority of him wants to evade the questioning and change the subject, but a small part, barely a whisper, wants to burst apart and let all his thoughts (and _the_ Thought) spill out into a puddle on the floor. He compromises, knowing Iris wouldn’t be easy to distract.

“I’ve just. Been thinking about something for a while. It’s being really annoying today, so.” He indicates the space around his head. “That’s why I’m a little out of it.”

Iris hums thoughtfully, studying Percy’s face as he avoids her eye contact.

“Do you want to talk about it? It might go away.”

Percy lets out a short, humourless laugh. 

“Couldn’t talk about it if I tried. I’m—” he searches the shelves for where the stack of books should go— “ _weird_ about it, I guess.”

Another hum. He finds the ‘M’ section with an _aha!_ and pushes around the books to make space for the new ones.

“You know,” Iris starts as she returns her book to the shelf. “There are ways of talking about something without actually _talking_ about it. Metaphors. Analogies. Your average 10th-grade English course.”

Percy’s movements slow as he thinks about her words. Of course, he knows what an analogy was, he’s _definitely_ used one before, but it hadn’t occurred to him that he could use it for _this._

Iris wasn’t finished speaking.

“The analogy doesn’t even have to make sense to anyone other than you. I’ve used vampires to describe how I flunked math in ninth grade, and it was nonsense to my parents but I at least understood how I failed a little better afterwards.”

She faces Percy, watching him process the advice with his arm raised mid-air, book hovering over the place it is to be set down. She smiles at him, sympathy and knowing furrowed in her brows, and she decides that’s enough intervening for the day.

Without looking at her watch, she says, “Well, I’m off. Gonna go home and watch some Queer Eye. Have a good break, Perce.”

But Percy barely registers her words. His thoughts racing, he pushes all the books in his stack into their new area and steps back to check they are all upright. It is only then that he reads the title of the books, his breath caught in his throat. _‘Essays on Bisexuality: a collection of experiences.’_

He ditches the aisle and goes straight to the break room, trying and failing to not think about _It_.

—

It isn’t until a few days later that Percy finally tries Iris’s advice.

Sitting on the balcony chair for the third night in a row, Percy has his earphones plugged in, his phone playing the High School Musical 3 soundtrack on repeat. He stares absently out at the city lights, tentatively organizing his thoughts into a mangled metaphor. The _wrong_ feeling is still there, but it is fainter than it had been the night before and the night before that. Like the more he thinks about it, the weaker the feeling becomes, and the weaker it gets, the less scary.

He is shaken from his thoughts by his phone picking up a call. Grover’s name is displayed on the screen along with a picture taken at his last birthday, high as hell and wearing a flower crown with horns.

Percy disconnects his earphones and brings the phone up to his ear.

“Grover? The hell, it’s like, 2 am.”

_“Dude, I follow your Spotify, why have you been listening to ‘Scream’ for the past three days?”_

Percy sighs. “It’s. Nothing, don’t worry.”

_“Uh, now I’m definitely worrying more.”_

Percy pinches the bridge of his nose and slumps in his chair.

“It’s fine, I swear, I’m just, I don’t know, being a big baby about it, or something.”

_“Are you sure you’re okay? ‘Cause, and I hate to bring this up because it was touchy then and it’s probably touchy now--”_

Percy has a bad feeling he knows where this was heading--

_“But last time you listened to an angsty song on repeat and_ didn’t _talk to anyone was in sixth-grade after...well, after the whole Eric thing.”_

Percy grimaces. In hindsight, he might not have been as subtle as he thought back then. 

Eric was a friend of theirs, barely at Yancy for a term before he moved across the country, never to be heard from again (at least from Percy’s side of things). He was sweet. He sat with Percy at lunch and helped him with math. He liked to the same bands as Percy, the same movies, had the same sense of humour. He would listen to Percy with all his attention, he’d stop whatever he was doing to watch him talk about his current hyperfixation (which was Greek mythology, a fixation he still mostly has) and he never made him feel weird about it. In return, Percy clung to every word Eric said, laughed at all his jokes, shared with him his CDs and tapes. He ignored the butterflies in his stomach and his blush-tinged skin. Percy found that if he ignored those things, the Thought was quieter and the Feeling muted. 

When it came time for Eric to transfer, Percy was heartbroken. He’d given Eric a stiff hug goodbye and then hid under the covers of his bunk, the unfinished mixtape he had made for Eric blaring out of his headphones. Grover had been at a complete loss of what to do and did the first two things that he could think of: break open his candy stash and call Percy’s mom.

Percy had refused to talk about it. The overwhelming feeling of _wrongness_ had settled itself where the butterflies in his stomach had once fluttered. The blush in his skin was no longer a burst of energy, it was an uncomfortably hot presence. He was irritable, snapping at teachers, losing his temper with his classmates, but through it all Grover would sit on the corner of Percy’s bed, just outside the makeshift blanket fort he had constructed, and he would slip Sour Keys and Swedish Fish under the layers and let Percy take his time to find the words. 

Twelve-year-old Percy hadn’t been able to find those words. But maybe 26-year-old Percy can.

“Grover?”

Percy holds his breath. Is he really about to do this? This is ridiculous. He is so _stupid_.

_“Yeah?”_

He takes a deep breath.

“Okay. Okay, I uh...Let’s say that I’m Troy Bolton.”

_“Hmm, okay.”_

“So, I’m Troy--”

_“Wait, can I be Chad?”_

“I--sure. You can be Chad--”

_“--Wicked. Please continue.”_

“Got it. So, I’m Troy Bolton. And, uh. I like basketball. I like basketball _a lot._ Um, there’s actually this one basketball that I’m totally in love with. Gonna spend the rest of my life with this basketball. Have little, tiny, basketball babies and stuff.”

_“Uh-huh.”_

“And uh. So my whole life-- _Troy Bolton’s_ whole life--you know, he’s been told that he’s destined for basketball. _Only_ basketball. He’s gonna play basketball, get a scholarship for basketball, and then he’s gonna be on a team, a real professional team, and he’s gonna be great at it. And his whole life, he’s only been shown the direction of...of basketball.” 

Percy takes another deep breath, long enough to second guess himself. 

“...I’m sorry, this is stupid--”

_“No no. Keep going. I think I get it.”_

Percy purses his lips. Fiddles with the loose thread on his shirt.

“So he’s been told his whole life, ‘Only basketball. Don’t do anything else that might take you away from that future as a player.’ And part of him is okay with that. Because he loves basketball. He likes the idea of becoming a player in the future. He likes everything about it.

“But sometimes he thinks about musical theatre. Sometimes he thinks about singing and dancing and acting, and he _likes it_. A-and maybe that makes him a theatre kid, he doesn’t know, but what he _does_ know, is that even though he dreams about theatre and basketball the _same_ _way_ , everyone in his life is gonna expect him to choose one over the other. They won’t let him think about anything else.

“So...so he tries to stop thinking about musical theatre because every time he thinks about it he thinks he’s betraying his entire future, everything he’s ever known, that he’s doing something _wrong_ , even though he knows that people can like both, _he knows this_ , but for some reason, it just won’t apply to _him._ He doesn’t sing or dance or act, he only plays. And he’s almost okay with that.

“Because he _still likes basketball._ He fucking _loves_ that game. But every one in his life thinks that it’s the _only thing_ that he likes, which isn’t true. He likes a lot of other things. And even though he’s 100 percent committed to that one basketball, he doesn’t like the idea of people thinking he’s only ever liked the _game of basketball._ Because that isn’t him. Because no matter how hard he tries, he still thinks about musical fucking theatre! He always has! And he doesn’t know if he’s supposed to come ou--uh. Tell people. Tell people that he. Likes both. Or if it’s not gonna mean anything because he’s already found the love of his life.”

There is a pause. Percy reviews the last few words that he said.

“The love of his life being that one _basketball_ , of course.”

_“Oh, of course. The basketball.”_

Percy’s leg jumps up and down. He tries to keep the tremor out of his voice.

“So, Grover. Thoughts?”

He hears his best friend take a deep breath on the other end.

_“Well, first off: do you want me to keep up the metaphor?”_

“Oh God, please?”

_“Got it. So! You’re Troy Bolton!”_

“Yes, I am.”

_“And I’m your best friend, Chad.”_

“Hi, Chad.”

_“Hi, Troy. From what I’ve gathered, you’re dealing with some pretty heavy shit, huh?”_

“Eh, it’s no biggie.”

_“Well, it sounds pretty heavy to me. And I just want to preface this by saying that I love you, Troy. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. And I’m honoured that you’re telling me about your...conflicts with basketball and musical theatre.”_

Percy can hear the sound of Grover’s rickety coffee maker starting up and the clink of a mug on a counter.

_“I think how you’re feeling is a real thing. I think it sucks that uhh...Coach Bolton? Yeah, the collective Coach Bolton, he’s uh. Been pressuring you about picking between two things you like equally. You shouldn’t have to choose. Actually, let me rephrase. You_ do not _have to choose. You can play basketball and be the lead in a musical. You can be the team captain and learn choreography. The two are not mutually exclusive._

_“And this thing you’re dealing with--not knowing if it means anything to tell people that you also like musical theatre--it absolutely means something. Per--I mean. Troy. This thing is another facet of you. All of us that know you and love you? We want to know and love_ all _of you. None of us would ever make you feel like you’re choosing one over the other, trust me, it’s not my place to say, but you quite literally have_ the best _family and friends to support you, dude._

_“Now, think about what happens at the end of Senior Year. When we all go off to university, Mr. Troy Middle Name Bolton finds a university where he can play basketball_ and _study theatre. I think. Man, it’s been a while since I’ve watched it but I’m highkey sure that’s the takeaway of the whole film series, okay? That he finds a way to accomplish both. He doesn’t have to ever choose. He’ll just do what’s gonna make him happy.”_

Percy’s eyes were shut, his face scrunched up to keep the tears from falling. He sniffles a little, rubbing away at his eyes and letting the warmth of Grover’s words settle.

_“So I guess my final thoughts are: I love you, you’re valid, I support you, and do you want to get lunch tomorrow? I’m thinking tacos.”_

Percy bursts into laughter at the same time as Grover, his cackles for sure waking the neighbours above and below him.

When the laughter finally settles, Percy leans back in his chair and grins into his phone.

“You know, Grover, I’d really like that. Tacos sound great.”

_“Good. I wasn’t gonna take a no for an answer.”_

On Grover’s end, his coffee machine beeps at a frequency that makes Percy cringe.

_“Alright. You gonna go to bed now?”_

Percy surrenders to the yawn that has been threatening him for hours, and nods to himself.

“Yeah, I might be half-asleep right now.”

A chuckle from the other end.

_“Well, sweet dreams, buddy.”_

“Goodnight, Grover. Love you.”

_“Love you, too.”_

—

A month crawls by, the Thought no longer hidden but also not as scary. For the first time in forever, really, Percy finds himself willingly thinking about It throughout the days. When he accompanies Annabeth to checkups, he’s thinking about it while they sit in the waiting room. When he’s out grocery shopping for more pregnancy-craving snacks, he reflects on his past feelings and tries naming them. At Jackson-Blofis Family Dinners, he’s a little quieter than usual, imagining what would happen if he stood up, right then, and said it.

He can tell Annabeth is curious. She sees how he reclines into his thoughts in small moments, the pensive wrinkles by his brows, how he absently caps and uncaps his favourite pen. He wants to tell her—he wants her to love every piece of him—but he’s not there yet. His mind still stumbles over the word he wants to say, so he’s taking it slow. The first step was finding the words, even if they were veiled in a silly metaphor. The second step is retrospection. Finding as many things that previously didn’t make sense and seeing where they fit in the puzzle. Once Percy can see the vague shape the puzzle makes, then he’ll tell her.

And Percy’s told as much to Grover—over tacos, over bubble tea, while vacuuming, while playing intense games of Mario Kart. He still uses that _dumb metaphor_ , but Grover doesn’t judge him. He lets Percy empty out his brain onto the table, helps him sort through his thoughts in a way that seems _very_ knowledgeable for someone Percy believes is straight, but his brain is too preoccupied to dissect that right now. 

For a month, it’s just the two of them, best friends since sixth grade, supposed ‘grown-ups,’ wading through one’s sexuality crisis. 

Then comes June. 

With their friends being spread out all over the States (and Frank as the sole Canadian), meeting up altogether is a rare and tedious occasion. So, when they started being too old for summer camp, they agreed on a week in the summer when they should all meet up in someone’s current city of residence and catch up in person. Last year, Percy and Annabeth took a trip to Vancouver, where they all spent a few days in Frank’s family home. This year, since Annabeth wouldn’t be allowed on a plane, their friends decided to come to them and spend the week in Montauk.

Percy and Annabeth drive down to Montauk a day before everyone shows up, cleaning and stocking up the cabin with his parents’ help. Estelle sits by the shore collecting shells with Annabeth (who is herded out of the cabin and told to stay off her feet, much to her frustration). By the time the sun sets, the Jackson-Blofis trio hug their goodbyes and drive back to the city.

By the afternoon the next day, most of the group has arrived, lugging suitcases and reminiscing about their years of summer camp. And by the evening, the kitchen is crowded as everyone fights to have a hand in making dinner.

“Out! Out!” Nico shouts, slapping a wooden spoon on the counter. Percy wheezes into his arm, letting a frightened Grover shove him out of the room. The others do the same, all fighting off laughter or trying to argue their way back in. And then there’s Leo, who leans against the counter eating a stick of celery, an impish grin peeking out.

“Hey, is it just me or—“

“ _Madre di Dio,_ Leo, this is not that fucking Ikea commercial with the Italian nonna kicking everyone out of the kitchen, you have USED that reference before!”

And with a squawk, Leo is chased out of the room. 

The rest of the group splits off into either the living room or to start the fire-pit outside. Earlier in the day, Piper had strung up fairy lights wherever she could--in doorways, along windows, weaved through railings, and even tangled up in bushes--and now Percy could see why. Sure, you may think it’s to fight off the darkness or outline the boundaries of their area, but sitting in a plastic chair dug into the sand, struggling to light a match, becomes 10 times more whimsical with all the twinkling lights. For a summer night, it’s actually slightly on the chilly side, and the lights add a layer of coziness that warms Percy’s heart.

From out in the sand, Percy can hear the shouting match between Jason and Thalia (which is friendly, but in the siblings kind of way) about what movie to put on while they wait for dinner.

“I am not watching fucking _Scott Pilgrim_ ! God, _who raised you_?”

“That joke is unfair, Thals, we have different fathers.”

“ _Barely,_ they are _twins_ \--”

With a poorly disguised cackle, Leo stumbles out of the cabin, wiping away tears with one hand and holding a pack of beers in the other. He waves over to Percy’s group, lifting the beers with an unspoken question, then jogging over to the fire pit.

“Need some help there?” He nods at the pile of logs and fire starter as he passes out the bottles. Then, without any prompting, Leo pulls a lighter out of his pocket, lets the flame catch on a twig, and throws it into the pit. Instantly the flames spread, and the fire grows tall with a puff of heat, flickering orange and red on all their faces.

Grover stares at the fire in disbelief, then at Leo as he plops down onto a beach chair and pops the cap off his bottle with the tip of his shoe, then back at the fire. Piper, who is unfazed by Leo’s casual display of god-like abilities, places a hand on Grover’s shoulder and pats him sympathetically.

They sit by the fire, warming their hands and telling stories until Frank leans out of the cabin’s door and shouts about dinner. Leo and Piper volunteer to stay back and tend the bonfire as long as Percy and Grover return with some food. As the latter two trip their way through the sand in the direction of the cabin, Grover tugs at Percy’s sleeve.

“Hey, I just want to ask first, ‘cause it’s really up to you, but would you mind if I told someone else here about the whole Troy Bolton thing? I know they’d be super chill with it and probably might have more to say than me.”

Honestly, the thought of someone else knowing immediately makes Percy’s palms sweat, but he finds himself agreeing with Grover and giving him the green-light.

Grover slings an arm over Percy’s shoulders and pulls him in for a side hug as they enter the cozy cabin walls.

—

The hours fly by through their board games, movie watching, s’ mores, and abundant (but also responsible) alcohol consumption. As two in the morning approached, many of them did as Annabeth had done and passed out on a couch mid-sentence. Soon it’s just Percy keeping the fire going, little as it is, while Grover, Piper, and Reyna check in on the sleepers.

Poking at the charred wood and the flickering heat, Percy gets lost in his thoughts again. One of the subjects as of late is: Were these very intense feelings he once had for a guy _purely platonic_ or were they a _crush_ ? So far he has been able to clarify that, for quite a few, they were indeed a crush. Ones that now seem frighteningly obvious considering the... _Troy Bolton_ situation.

Percy sighs, resting his head on the palm of his hand and absentmindedly swaying in time to the waves flooding in nearby. Next to his feet is his bottle of beer, the second one he’s had tonight, which is pretty light considering how much some of the others had been drinking. But Percy has this intermittent fear that if he lets down all his defences, he’s going to blurt out the Thing and leave it to sober Percy to deal with. 

Just as he’s contemplating on the _other_ ever-present topic in his mind—i.e. Telling other people and imagining the varying range of reactions—Grover and Piper return from the cabin. The former settles back on the beach chair he had brought, and the latter sits herself down beside Percy with a dramatic sigh.

“Finally,” Piper draws out the word. She leans back in her chair and slides down into a slouch, eyeing Percy and Grover with a mischievous grin. “Now it’s just us. The Cool Kids.”

Percy and Grover scoff at the same time.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Percy says. “Do Cool Kids get weirdly invested in whatever game show is on at the moment? Because I think we should reconsider both me and Grover.”

“Ah ah ah,” Grover raises a finger and a brow at Percy. “Grover _and I_.”

The boys snicker and bump fists, but Piper’s grin turns smug.

“Actually, I was talking about a very interesting thing I was informed of, Mr. Jackson.” Piper looks at Grover. “How did you word it again?”

Grover sips his beer and says, “He’s a Troy—”

“Yes! You’re a Troy Bolton.”

Percy’s leg starts jumping up and down and he wraps his arms around himself. Without looking at either of them, he nods.

As Piper sets down her drink, she bumps his arm and says, “This is awesome news, Perce, ‘cause I am a total Gabriella Montez.”

Percy doesn’t know if it’s because he’s a little tipsy or because he’s tired, but it takes him a little too long to understand what Piper is trying to say. She notices and amends her statement.

“Percy, I’m bi.”

His head whips towards her, eyes wide, and a hint of a smile growing. She giggles and points a lazy finger gun at him.

“I’ll get all the questions out of the way first, so,” she spreads her hands apart. “Shoot.”

He thinks about it for a minute, biting his lip. Then he chugs the last of his bottle and rapid fires.

“How long have you known? How _did_ you know? Who else knows? Was it scary telling them? Have you had bad reactions? Do you know other people who are gay or bi? Did you immediately know you were bi? Do you question it sometimes? How do you know you’re not just faking or misinterpreting? Have you dated a girl before? Do you need experience to know you’re bi? Does it ever stop feeling wrong when you—” Percy gulps in air— “When you know it’s okay?”

Piper’s eyes are wide until the words process. Then she sits up, shakes her head as if waking up her brain, and answers succinctly.

“Since I was 14. Boys hot, girls hot. Reyna, Thalia, Leo, Nico, Grover, you, most people I know from LA. The first few people, yes, but it got easier. Yes. Hell yes. No. Not so much anymore. Again, boys hot, girls hot. A couple times. You absolutely don’t. And,” she turns to Percy for the last one, “yes. It does stop.”

Percy feels like his mind is going to explode. He says as much, making Piper laugh.

“That might just be the alcohol, honey.” Piper rests her head on his shoulder and he pulls her in for a hug.

“Thank you for telling me. It means. A lot.”

Piper kisses his cheek.

“Nah, thank _you,_ ” Piper’s words are muffled against his shirt. “We High School Musical babes gotta stick together.”

Percy groans.

“I feel so stupid whenever I use that goddamn metaphor, but I. I just.” He can’t find the words and just groans again.

He and Piper start swaying side to side while they hug, much to Grover’s amusement. 

“It’s okay, Percy. I had a hard time calling myself bi when I first figured it out. I kept thinking I was just faking it for attention, but like. Literally no one knew I also liked girls so I don’t know where the _attention_ thing came from. 

“But it got easier. I’d say it to myself more and more, get myself used to it. Every day I’d wake up and whisper it to myself just to hear it out loud. _I’m bisexual_ . Or _Piper is bi._ I had to keep checking myself, every time my mind wanted to call me straight, god forbid _that_ , I’d say it to myself a bunch of times. And then it just became second nature. _Why yes, I am bi. That’s a very bisexual look, Piper, keep it up. You should cut your hair, give yourself the bi bob._ That’s around the time I started actually saying it out loud _to_ people. Mostly acquaintances or strangers, people who I didn’t actually have any attachments to so if it went bad, I wasn’t losing anyone. From there, it just got easier to tell people I was closer to.”

Piper sighs, biting her lip.

“I’m still kinda at that step? Telling people I’m close to? I think my dad’s figured it out, ‘cause I stopped trying to be all that subtle, but I haven’t actually _come out_ to him.” She shrugs. “When it happens it’ll happen, I guess.”

They continue to sway from side to side, not really conscious of their movements. Grover watches them like they’re a pendulum. The silence blankets them, almost snuffing out the little flames keeping the fire pit glowing. Percy tilts his head upwards, watching the smoke dance in the wind, embers leaping and almost looking like fireflies before they cool and disappear into ash. With the fire crackling and the water crashing onto the shore, the Thought in the back of Percy’s mind speaks up.

_I am. Bisexual._

The feeling is euphoric.

—

As the week carries on, Percy, Grover, and Piper reconvene at the fire pit late at night to talk freely. Piper shares about her past girlfriends, her coming out stories, how she figured things out, and in return Percy tentatively opens up about his past crushes on boys, the things he learned growing up that scared him away from the concept, his fears about telling his family. The conversations aren’t always light, but they also aren’t lonely. Whenever Piper says anything about how being bisexual interacts with her gender expression, Percy feels himself light up with recognition. Whenever Percy struggles to word his feelings, Piper has the exact phrases he needs. _It’s exciting_ , he thinks each night, _that it’s not just me._

On one of the lighter nights, the three of them are sprawled out on the shore, digging through the sand for shells and rocks before the waves wash them away. The topic is _embarrassingly obvious_ crushes.

Piper’s been splashing at Grover for teasing her and Percy’s been rambling about his childhood crushes, asking every once in a while, “Was I _really_ that obvious?” to which Grover or Piper would reply, “Do you really want the answer to that?”

Percy digs up a cool looking rock and shows it to the other two, preening at their _ooh_ s and _ah_ s. 

As Piper takes the rock and turns it this way and that in her hand, she says, “Ok but what about more recent crushes? Like, university? Workplace?”

Percy shrugs.

“No, c’mon, Percy. No work-husband or wife?” He shakes his head. “A cute customer?” Another no. “Not even a super hot TA?”

Percy goes to shake his head but stops. Thinks. Realizes.

As his eyes widen in sudden shock, Piper falls backward with laughter, unable to form words every time she looks at the expression on his face.

Grover, however, is much more composed.

“So,” Grover sings, “what’s his name?”

Percy feels the heat rise in his face, and he slaps his wet hands over his cheeks to cool them down. 

Grover reaches over a still-laughing Piper to nudge Percy’s shoulder.

“Come on, Percy! A name! Tell us about the hot TA!”

Percy turns onto his stomach and mutters the name into the sand.

In between gasps of laughter, Piper says, “Sorry, what was that? Couldn’t hear you there.”

Percy growls into the sand, but says again, this time at an audible volume, “Michael in Biology. He helped us with the labs.”

Piper laughs so hard she is gasping for air but somehow finds it in her to say, “Oh I _bet he did--_ ”

She is promptly cut off by Percy dumping a pile of muddy sand on her.

But the damage was done. Percy’s fascination with his Bio TA is probably the Most Embarrassing (and _Obvious_ ) crush he’s ever had on a guy. He’d say he doesn’t even know why he kept up with the Bio courses, especially considering he wasn’t going into pre-med at _all,_ but that would be a huge lie because Percy _knows_ why he stayed in that Bio course, and that reason is a very tall man with blond hair and muscles. Let it be said that Percy has a type, and that type goes both ways.

With reluctance, Percy recounts how he said _good morning!_ to Michael every day, even when it wasn’t morning; how he would glare at his lab partners for making the smallest sound while Michael was speaking; how he was more anxious about what little notes Michael would write on his assignments rather than his actual grade; how, at the end of the semester, Michael had tried to explain to Percy that he was sorry, but he was actually in a relationship, a conversation that Percy didn’t understand why it had taken place until the very moment Piper asked him about, “Super hot TAs.”

“Percy! _Sweetie_ !” Piper cackles. “I’m sorry, but I will _never_ let you live this down!”

Percy just groans, wishing the water would wash him away with the shells and rocks.

—

On the final evening of their summertime visit, the trio chooses instead to rejoin the other seven in the cabin for an intense game of Just Dance. The battle goes late into the early morning hours, until they are all fast asleep, lying in one big heap on the living room floor, using stomachs and arms as pillows. Fast asleep all but for one.

Percy carefully lifts his wife’s arm from where it is stretching out onto him. He tiptoes past his sleeping friends until he comes across a snoring Piper, lying over Reyna’s legs and Leo’s arm.

Percy kneels and taps on Piper’s shoulder gently but still enough to rouse her from her unconsciousness. She opens her eyes, ready to eat Percy alive for the intrusion, but stops herself when she sees his blooming smile.

“Hey, Piper,” he whispers as if she isn’t on the verge of murder.

She raises a brow in response.

He smiles with his teeth and Piper is reminded just how young he is, how young she is, all of them asleep in this room. 

“I’m bisexual,” Percy whispers, and he says it likes it’s the most obvious thing on the planet. Which is true.

Piper lifts her hand into a sleepy finger gun and points it at Percy.

“Yeah, you fuckin’ are.” Percy chuckles softly. Piper feels her eyelids grow heavy. “I’m gonna sleep now. Bye-bye.”

With that, Percy returns to his spot next to Annabeth, kisses the top of her head, and falls asleep with a smile on his face and a weight lifted from his chest.

—

As July begins, Percy frets about when is a good time to come out to Annabeth. By the time her birthday passes on the 12th, Percy has planned to come out five different times already, each abandoned due to the swirling feeling in his stomach when he opened his mouth.

Piper and Grover tell him he doesn’t have to do it now, he can wait until he’s absolutely comfortable, but Percy tells them he’s been waiting his whole life to come out to _himself_ and he’s sick of it. No more waiting, no more stalling.

“I mean,” Percy says with a shrug. “It’s about time, don’t you think?”

So they set a date. July 19th. Sometime in the afternoon, after she’s eaten so she’s not grumpy. If need be, he will run to the nearest bodega for a jar of pickles and hand it to her before saying anything to soften the blow.

He starts the day as usual: making breakfast while the Sunday cartoons play on, then delivering the french toast and eggs to Annabeth in bed, peppering her face with good morning kisses. He settles down next to her with a couple of the picture books stacked in the nursery and reads aloud to their kid, witty commentary slipped in to entertain Annabeth.

The day is a lazy one, a quiet Sunday to sleep in, cuddle, and volley increasingly awful baby names at each other until one of them stands down.

“Antoinette?”

“Nah, she’d be guillotined. Dicky?”

“Now you’re just asking for him to be bullied. Ariel?”

“Wow, sorry I can’t be a mermaid for you. No, how about Hortensia?”

“Annabeth, I don’t even know how to spell that. Marmaduke.”

“ _Absolutely not_. It’s Thaddeus, or I walk.”

“Well, it’s Andromeda or _I_ walk.”

“Percy!” Annabeth wacks at him, but she isn’t really mad. “What did we say about Greek mythology names!”

Percy chuckles, moving his hands from where they were playing with her hair to hugging her middle and resting his chin on her shoulder.

“‘No mythology names because we _will_ end up using them—‘“

“That’s _right_ . So no, not Andromeda, even though that would be _so good_ , ugh.”

Annabeth’s head rests on his chest, her hands playing with his over her stomach. He nudges his cheek on the top of her hair and lays a soft kiss on the top of her head. He gulps and hopes she can’t sense his heartbeat rising.

“Hey, Wise Girl. I have to tell you something.”

She shifts to look at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Oh no.” The corner of her lips twitches upwards. “Are you about to tell me you’re pregnant?”

Percy holds back a laugh and sighs dramatically. 

“Yes, my love. Three weeks.”

Her eyes widen comically and she raises a fist to the ceiling. “But we were so careful! How could this have happened?”

Percy shakes his head and tuts, “Well, there’s always the risk, you know. It’s like, 20 percent chance nothing’s gonna work for you.”

Annabeth breaks character to stare at him. “That. The math on that is. So incorrect.”

He tosses his head back and laughs. Annabeth grins up at him.

“So, what is it?” She pokes him when the laughter subsides. “What’s the ‘something’?”

His arms tense, and the swirling feeling is back in his stomach. He forces a laugh.

“Haha. Yeah. I’m.” He starts to bounce his leg, and Annabeth’s brows bunch up. She still looks cute when she’s worried. “I’m. I-I. Fuck. I said it before, why can’t I say it now?”

The words balance on the tip of his tongue. He wants to say them. He wants to say them, and he doesn’t want to pause or hesitate or stutter or stumble. He starts again, does all four again, then stops and clenches his jaw. His teeth dig into the inside of his cheek. 

Annabeth kisses his palm then squeezes his hand, an action she instinctively does when she knows he’s nervous. “It’s okay. You can take your time.”

Percy takes a deep breath. He thinks briefly about how he’s taken more deep breaths in the past two months than probably his whole life, and he opens his mouth.

“You know what? I’ll just describe it. Maybe that’ll work.

“So, I’ve had _a lot_ of crushes in my whole life. You know this. _You_ are one of them.” Annabeth smirks. “But, one thing that I have not told you is—um.” His mouth goes dry. “Many were—some of them actually…” 

_Fuck it_ , he thinks. And the words spill out. 

“Some were boys; I like boys. And girls. Boys and girls. Men and women, women and men. Both. I’m bisexual. I’m bi.”

He lets out a shaky breath and runs his thumbnail over his lips, an old soothing stim he’s had since he was a baby. He studies the quilt laid over them, pale blue patches of multicoloured sailboats and sea creatures. They bought the blanket for the baby but loved it too much to keep folded up in the nursery.

“Percy,” Annabeth speaks softly. He turns to her and sees her smile. It’s one of the hottest days in New York, but the warmth in her eyes and in the tilt of her lips make the weather seem like the winter solstice. She reaches up with one hand and curls his hair behind his ear, cupping the side of his face and caressing his cheek with her thumb.

She says his name again as she kisses him, and Percy falls in love with her all over again.

She tells him she will always love him, no matter what, and he falls in love with her all over again.

She tells him she’s honoured and proud and so happy for him, and he falls in love with her all over again.

She runs her hands through his hair and asks him, ‘how long have you known?’ and ‘have you told anyone else?’ and ‘is this why you’ve been spacing out lately?’ and ‘you totally had a crush on Luke, too, right?’ and he falls in love with her all over again, while he laughs and laughs and feels lighter than he’s ever felt in years.

—

**goatman’s bridge (14:24)**

hiiiii percy :Y

totally not checking in on u

but since i’m here

u good? 

**perry the platypus (14:30)**

hiiiii grover :Y

i’m on cloud 9 dude

i’m literally so in love w her

she’s laughing abt the michael story rn but don’t tell piper cuz they’re gonna gang up on me

**goatman’s bridge (14:31)**

djdkkflgsnfj

too late piper was reading over my shoulder

but omg!!!!!! congrats!!!! we’re so happy for u!!!!!!

**perry the platypus (14:32)**

i’m never gonna live this thing down am i

**goatman’s bridge (14:33)**

nope <3

—

Percy’s leg has been bouncing under the table in his dining room since the cake was set down in front of him to wish on. He had closed his eyes and pursed his lips, his one wish echoing in his brain: _let this go well, let this go well._ He had decided earlier to wait until the end of the night to tell his family because, on the very slim chance that his coming out will go horribly, horribly wrong, he at least wanted to enjoy his birthday dinner with his family one last time. 

His knee bumps against Annabeth’s, drawing her attention. She presses a kiss to her fingertips, then squeezes his hand, sending a look along the way, asking, ‘ _You okay?_ ’ The look he sends back is an obvious, ‘ _Haha! No! But I’m gonna do it anyway._ ’

Sally is passing a platter of fruit over to Hazel when Percy finally clears his throat.

“Hey, I uh. I have a little announcement to make.”

All four sets of eyes land on him, and panic floods his body. He’s on the verge of backtracking when Annabeth links her pinky through his, reminding him that she’s _there_ and she’s _not leaving_.

“I’ve, uh, come to realize over the past couple of months that I’m bisexual.”

Percy can’t help the grin that grows on his face. He _said_ it. And sure, he stuttered, but it was just once. He’s getting there.

When he looks up from the tablecloth, he sees the pride in his family’s faces. Sally rises to hug him from behind, punctuating her words with kisses to the top of his head.

“I. Love. You. So. Much!”

Paul leans forward, grinning like the proud step-dad he is, and says, “We’re very honoured you’ve told us, Percy.”

Nico stares at Percy in disbelief, and Percy _knows_ he’s thinking of the crush he had for years at camp. 

“Well, Percy,” Nico begins, taking a gulp from his wine glass, “I formally retract every straight joke I’ve ever made about you. Especially the ones made when you _were_ _not_ in the room—“

And when the laughter from _that_ dies down, Hazel shakes her head and says, “When you said you had an announcement, I thought you guys decided you were having another kid, oh my God.”

“‘Another kid?’” Percy gestures to Annabeth. “We’re not even done with the first one!”

“Hey,” Annabeth pipes up. “We’re _almost_ done with the first one. Nine days.”

“Nine days.”

The soon-to-be parents rap their knuckles on the table in unison.

—

Later that evening, Percy finds Nico sitting out on the balcony in the very chair Percy has his crises in. He’s deep in thought, drumming his fingers on the back of his phone and staring out into the cityscape.

Percy knocks on the glass of the sliding door, and Nico straightens.

“You okay?” Percy asks, leaning on the doorframe.

Nico shrugs. “Just. Growing-up things.”

“Ah, yes. Growing-up. An old friend.”

Sometimes, Percy forgets he’s not at Camp Half-Blood anymore, he’s not a counsellor concerned with this new kid who’s had a rough start at life. He knows Nico is no longer that kid, but he can’t help the urge to step in, every once in a while, and slip back into that role. Percy thinks back to May, the conversation he and Nico had while washing the dishes. He hadn’t known what to say then, and he had felt guilty thinking he _could_ have said the right thing if he hadn’t been so confused with his feelings. Now, after confronting that confusion and turmoil and internalized bullshit, Percy knows what to tell him.

“I don’t know if you remember this but, a few months ago, you said I had my whole life together, I was a _real_ grown-up, I checked off all the boxes, even started going _grey—_ “

“Okay, I don’t think I called you old—“

“But what’s funny to me _now_ , is that at the time, I still hadn’t come to terms with being bi. It was just the thing that made me feel _wrong_ and scared all the time. I ignored it for, like, 27 years. Then one day, it wouldn’t let me ignore it anymore. And I _had_ to deal with it. I _had_ to admit it. Since then, I’ve felt more like myself than I’ve ever felt in my entire life. It’s like I need to relearn how to experience things now that I know myself better.”

Nico nods slowly, then frowns.

“So, does that mean that _now_ you’re a grown-up? And not a few months ago?”

“See, I don’t think we ever become _grown-ups_. I think we become adults, but we don’t stop _growing_. We’re always changing, most things aren’t concrete, and yeah, that can be scary, but the beauty of it is that, well, it’s scary for _everyone_. _Everyone_ is always changing. So all that really matters is that you grow at whatever pace you’re at, you don’t rush it. It’s not a race. There isn’t a finish line.”

Nico watches him for a minute, the words sinking in. Then, almost imperceptibly, his shoulders release their tension, and Nico rolls his eyes in mock-annoyance.

“What is it with this family and having spontaneous words of wisdom? Why can’t you all just be bad at speaking sometimes?”

Percy’s eyebrows raise, and he mentally recalls several recent moments where words failed him, but he refuses to give Nico the ammunition.

“It’s just the Jackson-Blofis-Di Angelo-Levesque-Chase way, kid.” He dodges the kick Nico aims at him. “Anyway, if you want extra cake, it’s in the kitchen.”

Nico sighs and rises from the chair with a nod. In the doorway, he hesitates for a second.

“Thanks, by the way.”

Percy just smiles. And then he is alone on the balcony, with the chair that hasn’t been moved since Percy and Annabeth got the apartment. He takes one last look at the lights in the distance, the sky, and the roads below, then he grabs the chair and shifts it over an inch. A small change, but a change nonetheless.

—

At some point over the nine months that Annabeth was pregnant, she and Percy both forgot that sometimes, the baby could get a little impatient. They had been so set on August 27th being the birth date that they planned for all of their friends and family to fly across the country at the _end_ of the month to celebrate. They didn’t anticipate Annabeth going into labour the afternoon of the 23rd, five days before _anyone_ was even packed to leave their state and come to New York.

But they took it in stride, Annabeth unnaturally calm as Percy borrowed Paul’s car and sped to the nearest hospital, panic and excitement exploding out of him.

The Jackson-Blofis family camped out in the waiting area, with Nico and Hazel back at Percy and Annabeth’s apartment, preparing for their homecoming. They all ended up staying overnight, but at 10 o’clock on the dot, Percy and Annabeth said hello to the newest member of their family.

When they come home on the afternoon of the 24th, baby snuggled into a bassinet and fast asleep, they are expecting Nico and Hazel to be lounging on a couch, playing Mythomagic unironically (like they tend to do in their free time together). Instead, what greets them when they quietly shuffle into the home are all of their friends spread out in the living room, looking jet-lagged and sleep-deprived but ecstatic to be there nonetheless.

As Annabeth sets the bassinet down on the couch, her pinky clutched in the baby’s teeny tiny hand, Percy gestures to everyone to stay quiet. They all nod and lean closer to catch a glimpse, eyes tearing up as they coo.

“C’mon,” Thalia whispers, “Are you gonna tell us the name or not?”

Percy grins. Sharing a fond look with Annabeth, he then turns to the others and says, “Hero. Her name is Hero Jackson.”

Annabeth hums, “Turns out we can’t resist a Greek mythology theme after all.”

While the others congratulate them and set about making an early dinner, Percy and Annabeth curl up in the corner of their couch and marvel at their daughter. She has Percy’s dark hair and Annabeth’s nose. They joke that she has Annabeth’s eyes too, a slate grey, though they know they might darken as she grows. They sit there for almost the rest of the day, engrossed in their own little world.

In the days that follow, their friends take turns making meals and doing chores, More than once they’ve had to shoo Percy and Annabeth away from messes and into taking much-needed naps during the day. Because, while Hero is a relatively quiet baby, she still cries often enough that her parents are zombies most mornings. 

On one such morning, Percy takes advantage of the awkward energy around Jason, Piper, and Reyna as they sit on the same couch, to sneak into the kitchen to make some coffee. While he’s pouring the coffee into his mug, something colourful catches his eye.

For his birthday, Annabeth, Piper, and Grover had all collaborated on a little homemade present: a glass bottle, painted blue, with a card attached with blue ribbon. The card has their birthday messages written out in their wildly different cursives and little hearts scribbled all over. Sticking out of the bottle is a tiny pride flag, pink-purple-blue hanging off a wooden dowel. When Percy had unwrapped the gift, he placed it on the kitchen counter where he couldn’t miss it so that every time he walked passed it, he’d smile.

For the past week, all of his friends have been walking around the apartment, the flag in direct view and unmissable to them.

The floor creaks. Percy looks up to see Piper finally escape the living room. As she walks up to him, she nods at the bottle.

“I didn’t know when would be a good time to tell you, but they’ve all kinda figured it out. I avoided answering any of their questions, in case you didn’t want them to know yet, but they’ve all been very happy for you, Percy.”

A smile stretches at his lips as he carefully sips his coffee. Ever since he came out to his family, he had been worrying about coming out to the others. Now, he doesn’t have to anymore.

“It’s okay,” Percy says. “I want them to know.”

**Author's Note:**

> HOOOOO BOY. BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS WENT INTO THIS BABY.  
> some notes:  
> \- yes. hero is a name from greek mythology. yes. that is a good fucking name ikr???  
> \- this is just a small thing but ik that hazel and nico are supposed to be the same age in the books, but in this hazel is a couple years younger than nico  
> \- my thought process thru much of this was “food as a love language food as a love language food as a lo—“  
> \- when i said most of this was projection, i wasn’t kidding, i rly made percy go thru some of my internalized biphobia and use hsm as a coping mechanism 😔  
> \- also the day i’m posting this i’m planning on coming out to my OWN family, so i rly tried to Manifest those results in this hehe  
> \- a percy and piper friendship is something that can actually be so personal  
> \- lowkey, i didn’t explain it in here bc i couldn’t fit it in naturally, but the reason why grover says percy has the best family and friends to come out to is bc the vast majority are lgbt and percy doesn’t even know it yet. also grover is meant to be implied as bi as well hehe  
> \- im on tumblr at [bipercykin](https://bipercykin.tumblr.com/)  
> \- if ur interested in the playlist that inspired and motivated me while writing, it can be found on spotify under the same title as the fic!! included are songs i personally think percy would jam out to, songs that fit the Vibes very accurately, or a combination of both. [enjoy ❤️](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/644Sw0ysZDiT92QCEYTUYO?si=8Ta_pKeVQ4e4H9heMZgXHA)


End file.
